The apartment door opened.
And this time—
Yuri wasn't alone.
The air changed the moment he stepped inside.
Not silence.Not emptiness.
Presence.
Hiro stood near the center of the room, coat still on, gloves neatly tucked into one hand. He wasn't pacing. Wasn't waiting impatiently.
He was still.
Controlled.
Dangerous in the way predators are when they already know how the hunt ends.
Yuri's breath hitched.
"H-Hiro… you're back—"
He didn't finish.
Hiro crossed the distance in two steps.
His hand clamped around Yuri's collar and drove him into the wall with a force that rattled the shelves. The impact knocked the breath clean out of him. The frame behind him cracked.
"I warned you," Hiro said quietly.
Not yelling.
That was worse.
"I warned you what would happen if you moved too soon."
Yuri clawed at Hiro's wrist, gasping. "I—I am ready—!"
Hiro released him.
Just long enough to throw him.
Yuri hit the floor hard, pain exploding through his ribs. His vision blurred. Something warm flooded his mouth. He coughed, spitting red onto the tile.
"I've killed one hundred eighty-seven criminals in three months!" Yuri shouted, pushing himself up on shaking arms. "Filth! Monsters! You trained me for this—this is what you wanted!"
Hiro stepped forward.
Yuri didn't even see the kick coming.
His body folded, air ripped from his lungs as he slammed back down. He retched, choking on pain and blood.
Hiro crouched beside him.
Calm. Measured.
"You bleed," Hiro said, almost conversational. "That's the part you keep forgetting."
He grabbed Yuri's face, fingers digging into his jaw, forcing him to look up.
Blood dripped from Yuri's lip onto Hiro's glove.
"You are not a god," Hiro said.
His grip tightened.
"You are not a monster."
Closer now. Eye to eye.
"You are human."
The word landed like a verdict.
Hiro released him and stood. Straightened his coat. Adjusted his cuffs like nothing of importance had happened.
"You've grown arrogant," he continued, turning his back. "That gets people killed. Starting with you."
He walked to the door.
"Remember this feeling," Hiro said without looking back. "Fear keeps you alive."
The door closed.
The lock clicked.
Silence swallowed the room whole.
Yuri lay there, chest heaving, hands trembling against the floor. His body screamed at him to stay down.
He laughed.
Soft.
Broken.
Human?
He rolled onto his back, staring at the cracked ceiling. Blood smeared across his knuckles as he wiped his mouth.
If I'm human…Then what does that make the people who fear me?
Images flickered behind his eyes—news reports, whispered names, bodies left behind in the dark. Cities holding their breath.
He clenched his fists.
The world had learned his name.
And soon—
It would learn his face.